Year of Consecrated Life

The Vatican approved new statutes and bylaws for the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious, ending a seven-year process of investigating the group and engaging in dialogue with its officers to ensure greater harmony with Church teaching.

Despite fewer vocations to consecrated life, those responsible for formation in religious institutes must know how to say no to unsuitable candidates, so as to avoid a “graver crisis of quality” down the road, Pope Francis said.

At their cloistered monastery tucked away on DeMontreville Trail near Lake Elmo, two priests and five brothers — one of whom is studying at the St. Paul Seminary — dedicate their lives to praying for others, looking to many great saints of the Carmelite tradition, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. John of the Cross among them. But one in particular guides them through their days not just of prayer, but also of study, outreach and craftwork, by which they support themselves.

To celebrate National Catholic Sisters Week March 8-14, The Catholic Spirit reached out to sisters in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Below they share a glimpse of their calling — from the most rewarding part of religious life to their favorite “nun movie.”

What started out as a blog at a time when few people knew about blogs and hardly anyone was familiar with Twitter is a living and growing ministry run by two women religious who are Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

During the Year of Consecrated Life, all Catholics are called to thank God for the gifts members of religious orders have given the Church and the world, to join them in prayer and find practical ways to support them and their ministries, Pope Francis said.